Dewey hissed in pain as Huey wrapped the bandages around his torso.
The eldest triplet gave him an apologetic look before returning his attention towards the wound that was still bleeding some. He had to take deep breaths every now and then to keep himself from passing out. And the same thing applied to the forming tears in the corners of his eyes. Huey wasn't in the mood to go ahead with the plans they had made for the day. Not after the encounter they had had with the Beagle Boys an hour ago.
Huey's eyes were shaking as they focused on the bleeding wound. He had so many things he wanted to say. More like scream if he was being honest with himself.
He held the roll of bandages with one hand, carefully grabbing the pair of scissors that lay beside him with his other one. He opened them before cutting the beige colored fabric so that it was no longer attached to the roll.
Huey rested both the roll of bandages and the scissors on the ground before running his hand over the bandages to smooth them out and make sure they were secure and wouldn't fall off. Dewey was blushing as his brother did this, but he kept his reddened cheeks hidden from view. It was hard enough realizing he had a crush on his older brother, but trying to keep it a secret — especially while he was touching his chest — was even harder. He didn't want to go through the possibility of ruining their relationship.
But Dewey couldn't help but wonder what dating his brother would be like.
He couldn't control his attraction towards him, however. And in truth, he didn't want to control it. There was just something about Huey that Dewey couldn't help but feel giddy about. Anytime they were in the same room, the middle triplet had to look away and bite his tongue to keep himself from turning into a tomato. Whenever they made eye contact while talking to each other was another problem. Dewey always froze when that happened, and when he would finally snap out of it, Huey had given up trying to get his attention and would go about his day, oblivious to the effect he had on his brother. Dewey would bang his head on the wall for an hour whenever that happened.
The worst thing however was when they got dressed in the morning, or undressed at night or to take a shower. Dewey was finding it harder and harder to not give in and stare at his brother and his body as he changed. And it was nothing new. They had changed in the same room together for years. But now, after realizing and accepting that he had a crush, that he felt something more than family love towards his brother, Dewey was starting to realize that it may become impossible for him to not look at his brother while he changed and not grab him by his waist and kiss him. It was something that ran through his mind a lot nowadays.
Dewey watched as Huey continued to treat his wound. He had began to mutter something, but it was inaudible to the younger of the two. It was quiet between them as Huey continued his work. Dewey would cringe every now and then when he felt a stinging sensation that was caused by the pressure his brother placed on his body to get the bandages to stick. Huey kept giving him an apologetic look, a sense of sadness in his eyes.
He always hated to see his brothers in pain. As the oldest, he felt as if he had to be their protector, no matter how much they hated it. If they got hurt, Huey would blame no one but himself. Dewey had told him that he didn't have to be strong, that it was okay to break down and lose it every now and then, but Huey was just as stubborn as he was at times.
Dewey hated that with a burning passion, but he also saw why Huey was frustrated with him most of the time.
The silence was starting to get the better of the middle triplet, and he started to squirm, needing some sort of movement. Huey glared at his brother, and immediately, Dewey froze in his place. His brother was starting to get good at making him behave without verbally telling him to.
Dewey gave a soft 'I'm sorry' to his brother, who just nodded slightly as a show of thanks.
The middle triplet looked around the room, trying to find something that would hopefully break the ice between the two, and that's when he noticed a half-eaten bagel on the desk next to their three bunk-beds. He reached over, grabbing and looking at it before chuckling.
Huey glanced at his brother with a raised eyebrow in confusion. Dewey looked from the bagel, to Huey, and then back to the bagel.
"Hey Hue, you've heard of the Beagle Boys, right?"
Huey just looked at him, blinking once. He was right in the middle of finishing the last round of bandages when Dewey had decided to speak up. The middle triplet waved the bagel around gently, a smile on his face, chuckling as he continued.
"Well, what about the Bagel Boys, huh?"
Huey stared at his brother, saying nothing. Dewey wasn't sure what he was expecting from his crush, but what he did get was nothing what he thought Huey would ever do.
The eldest triplet broke down crying. He sobbed, his head falling to the floor. His body was already trembling as the tears flowed down his cheeks. Dewey sat there, his mouth agape as he watched his brother break, letting the tears that he seemed to be holding back a really long time finally be able to flow freely.
He had never seen Huey cry this hard before. Sure, he had shed a few tears in the past, but he had managed to compose himself in a matter of two minutes.
Now, it had been almost ten minutes, and Huey was still sobbing. Dewey had gotten down on his knees despite the pain his torso was causing him.
Huey was more important.
He looked at his brother sadly before taking Huey into his arms, hugging him tightly. Huey choked on his tears as he hugged back, burying his face into the crook of his neck, causing Dewey to blush brightly. He had to fight the urge to kiss the side of his brother's head. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't risk ruining this moment, or their relationship as brothers which was so precious to the middle triplet.
"H-how can you make j-jokes when you almost died?" Huey stammered, hot tears now stained on his cheeks as new ones began to form.
Dewey sighed, not saying anything. He knew that right now, his brother needed physical comfort instead of verbal comfort.
Too bad he couldn't kiss his face that he adored so much.
He held Huey close to his chest, rubbing his back soothingly. Huey sniffed, his sobs calming down so that they were just gentle had begun to rock his brother back and forth as another way of calming him down.
Soon enough, Huey's head was laying on his chest, his eyes closed and a soft smile on his face.
"As long as you're around, Huey, I'll fight to survive." Dewey whispered gently.
Huey cracked his eyes open, his cheeks a light rose color. He hid it though, not wanting Dewey to know that he had a crush on him. It wasn't that he was embarrassed or anything, he just didn't want to ruin their relationship. Both of them just sat there for the longest time, enjoying the silence until a small grunt of pain was heard.
Dewey bit his lip, the stinging sensation starting to turn into more of a burning. Huey quickly wet his hand with the bowl of water he had used earlier on Dewey before placing it on Dewey's chest. The middle triplet blushed, the pain immediately fading away. Huey smiled softly and rubbed his chest lightly to ease the pain a bit more.
The blue-cladded duckling looked down, smiling sheepishly before leaning over and pecking Huey on the lips without properly thinking of what he was doing. Both of their eyes were huge once Dewey pulled back.
Neither of them said a word, but a smile was starting to form on the older of the two's lips. And soon enough, Huey had returned the gesture, kissing Dewey on the lips softly.
"I love you too, Dewey."